U.S. patent application number 11/468428 was filed with the patent office on 2008-03-06 for method and apparatus of presenting content received at a wireless communication device.
This patent application is currently assigned to Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB. Invention is credited to Gregory A. Dunko.
Application Number | 20080057938 11/468428 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38657670 |
Filed Date | 2008-03-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080057938 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Dunko; Gregory A. |
March 6, 2008 |
Method and Apparatus of Presenting Content Received at a Wireless
Communication Device
Abstract
A wireless communication device includes an optical sensor, a
controller, and a display. The optical sensor receives data
transmitted by one or more optical transmitters that are associated
with one or more businesses or buildings. The controller filters
the received data based on selected user preference information
stored in memory or provided by the user to produce a selected
content. The controller displays the selected content to the user
on the display.
Inventors: |
Dunko; Gregory A.; (Cary,
NC) |
Correspondence
Address: |
COATS & BENNETT/SONY ERICSSON
1400 CRESCENT GREEN, SUITE 300
CARY
NC
27511
US
|
Assignee: |
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications
AB
Lund
SE
|
Family ID: |
38657670 |
Appl. No.: |
11/468428 |
Filed: |
August 30, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/425 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 1/72445 20210101;
H04M 2250/12 20130101; H04M 1/72427 20210101; H04W 28/06 20130101;
H04M 1/72457 20210101; H04M 2250/52 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/425 |
International
Class: |
H04Q 7/20 20060101
H04Q007/20 |
Claims
1. A wireless communication device comprising: an optical sensor
configured to receive data being transmitted by one or more optical
transmitters; a controller configured to filter the received data
based on selected user preference information to produce selected
content; and a display to display the selected content.
2. The wireless communication device of claim 1 further comprising
memory to store one or more user profiles, each user profile
including one or more filters that specifies the user preference
information.
3. The wireless communication device of claim 2 wherein the user
preference information comprises one or more indicators that
identify the selected content to be displayed.
4. The wireless communication device of claim 2 wherein the
controller is configured to switch from a first filter to a second
filter responsive to user input.
5. The wireless communication device of claim 2 wherein the
controller is further configured to select a filter from the one or
more user profiles responsive to user input.
6. The wireless communication device of claim 2 wherein the
controller is configured to modify the user preference information
included in the selected filter while the selected content is being
displayed.
7. The wireless communication device of claim 6 wherein the
controller is configured to increase or decrease the amount of
selected content that is being displayed to the user responsive to
user input.
8. The wireless communication device of claim 6 wherein the
controller is configured to store the modified user preference
information in memory.
9. The wireless communication device of claim 1 wherein the
controller is configured to create a user profile based on the user
preference information.
10. The wireless communication device of claim 9 wherein the
controller is configured to create the user profile using
information manually provided by the user.
11. The wireless communication device of claim 1 further comprising
a transceiver configured to communicate signals with a wireless
communication network.
12. The wireless communication device of claim 11 wherein the
controller is configured to retrieve the user preference
information from a server in the wireless communication
network.
13. The wireless communication device of claim 1 wherein the
controller is configured to execute a predetermined function based
on the selected content responsive to user input.
14. The wireless communication device of claim 13 wherein the
controller is configured to initiate a call to a telephone number
included with the selected content.
15. The wireless communication device of claim 13 wherein the
controller is configured to access a web server based on a Uniform
Resource Locator (URL) included with the selected content.
16. A method of displaying information received from one or more
optical transmitters, the method comprising: receiving data
transmitted by one or more optical transmitters at an optical
sensor at a wireless communication device; filtering the received
data to produce selected content based on selected user preference
information; and displaying the selected content to the user.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein filtering the received data to
produce the selected content comprises selecting a first filter
from a plurality of filters responsive to user input, each filter
including user preference information that indicates respective
sets of selected content.
18. The method of claim 17 further comprising: switching from the
first filter to a second filter responsive to user input; filtering
the received data to produce new selected content specified by the
user preference information in the second filter; and displaying
the new selected content specified by the second filter.
19. The method of claim 18 further comprising changing the selected
content currently being displayed responsive to user input.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein changing the selected content
currently being displayed comprises increasing or decreasing the
amount of selected content that is being displayed responsive to
user input.
21. The method of claim 16 further comprising creating a filter to
include the user preference information.
22. The method of claim 16 further comprising executing a
predetermined function based on information in the selected content
responsive to user input.
23. The method of claim 22 wherein executing a predetermined
function comprises initiating a call to a telephone number included
with the selected content.
24. The method of claim 22 wherein executing a predetermined
function comprises launching a browser application to access a web
server based on a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) included with the
selected content.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] The present invention relates generally to wireless
communication devices, and particularly to wireless communication
devices configured to receive optically transmitted
information.
[0002] The increasing popularity of wireless communication devices
such as cell phones, for example, has driven the development of
applications that use various technologies. One application in
particular utilizes optical transmitters to carry information and
data to suitably equipped cell phones.
[0003] The optical transmitters may be associated, for example,
with businesses such as restaurants or shops and emit an optical
beacon that carries information about the businesses. The
information may include, inter alia, the name of the business and
data representative of the business' graphical icon or mark. A cell
phone equipped with an optical sensor can receive and display the
information for the user on the cell phone's display.
[0004] The ability to view a variety of information about
businesses on a cell phone is useful. However, a user walking
through a mall or near a collection of closely-located businesses
that employ this technology might only be interested in specific
types of businesses. If many businesses utilized this technology,
the amount of received information could be overwhelming making it
difficult for a user to find information regarding a specific
business or type of business.
SUMMARY
[0005] In one embodiment of the present invention, a wireless
communication device comprises an optical sensor that detects and
receives data transmitted by an optical transmitter. The data may
comprise one or more predetermined codes that identify different
information within the data. The wireless communication device
filters the received data based on user preference information to
select content the user is interested in viewing, and sends that
content to a display.
[0006] The user preferences may be stored, for example, in one or
more user profiles. Each user profile includes different user
preference information that specifies a different subset of the
received data that is to be displayed to the user. The user
preference information may comprise, for example, one or more codes
that coincide with the codes in the received data. A controller may
select a given user profile responsive to user input.
Alternatively, if no user profiles exist, the controller may create
a user profile based on information the user has been historically
interested in viewing.
[0007] The user profiles may be stored in memory of the wireless
communication device, or downloaded from a server or other entity
in a wireless communication network. The user may modify the amount
and/or type of content currently being displayed by switching
between different user profiles, or manually actuating one or more
controls on the wireless communication device to increase or
decrease the amount of displayed content.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication device
configured to receive data transmitted by optical transmitters.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless
communication device configured according to one embodiment of the
present invention.
[0010] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method by which
a wireless communication device configured according to one
embodiment of the present invention filters information received
from an optical transmitter.
[0011] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a communication
network suitable for use in one embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] The present invention allows a user of a wireless
communication device to view selected information received from one
or more optical transmitters based on the user's preferences. The
user's preferences specify which portion or portions of received
data that the user is interested in viewing. In one embodiment, the
wireless communication device comprises an optical sensor that
receives information from one or more optical transmitters. Each
optical transmitter may be associated with a different business or
building that houses a business, and emits a beacon that carries
data associated with that business. The data includes one or more
indicators that identify different parts of the data being
transmitted. Upon receipt, the wireless communication device
filters the received data by comparing the received indicators to
the indicators in the user's preferences. The wireless
communication device may then display the content for matching
indicators to the user.
[0013] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a geographical area 10 in
which a wireless communication device 20 configured according to
one embodiment of the present invention might operate. The
geographical area 10 may be, for example, a large city shopping
area such as Times Square in New York, Ginza in Tokyo, or the
inside of a mall or other geographical location having one or more
businesses or buildings 12. Each business 12 has an optical
transmitter 14 that that transmits data relating to their
particular business to wireless communication device 20. The data
may include, but is not limited to, the name of the business, the
type of food or wares it sells, pricing information, contact
information, whether reservations are required, and information on
sales. In one embodiment, one or more of the businesses 12 may
transmit its Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
[0014] In FIG. 1, each business 12 has it own associated optical
transmitter 14. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate
that this is for illustrative purposes only. Any of the businesses
12a-12d may use more than one optical transmitter 14 to transmit
their data, or a plurality of the businesses 12 may share a single
optical transmitter 14 to transmit information relating to each of
their businesses 12a-12d.
[0015] As described in more detail later, wireless communication
device 12 is equipped with an optical sensor 50 that receives the
data transmitted by each of the optical transmitters 14 when the
wireless communication device 20 is in the line of sight of the
optical transmitters 14. Upon receipt, wireless communication
device 20 may display the information on a display 22 for the user.
The information displayed in FIG. 1 comprises a list of text labels
24, 26 showing the user of the names of different businesses 12 in
area 10 that were detected. The list might also comprise icons or
other graphical indicia in addition to, or in lieu of, text. The
user may select a desired business 12 from the list to view
additional data about the selected business 12.
[0016] FIG. 2 illustrates some of the component parts of the
wireless communication device 20 in more detail. Wireless
communication device 20 includes a display 22 and a user input
interface (UI) 28. The display 22 may be, for example, a
touchscreen display that permits a user to employ a stylus or
finger to select one of the displayed list items. "Tapping" or
touching the selected list item may cause an application executing
on the wireless communication device to display additional
information about the business 12 associated with the selected
label.
[0017] In one embodiment, selecting a particular business 12 from
the list causes the wireless communication device 20 to initiate a
call to that business 12. If the transmitted data includes a URL, a
suitably-enabled wireless communication device 20 could launch a
browser application to allow the user to view the selected
business' web site. In other embodiments, selecting a particular
business 12 from the list launches a browser application and
automatically provides some or all of the data associated with the
selected business 12 to a publicly-available search engine, such as
GOOGLE. The user may then select and navigate one or more links
provided by the search engine to learn more about the selected
business 12.
[0018] The UI 28 includes one or more various controls that allow
the user to input commands to control the operation of wireless
communication device 20. Through the UI 28, the user may enter
various user commands, navigate hierarchical menus, select
businesses 12 and, as described later in more detail, create, edit,
and maintain user preferences to control the amount and/or type of
information received from the optical transmitters 14.
[0019] Wireless communication device 20 may also comprise a speaker
30 and a microphone 32 communicatively connected to an audio
processing circuit 34. Speaker 30 converts audio signals into
audible sound for the user, and microphone 32 converts the user's
speech into electrical audio signals. The audio processing circuit
34 provides the basic analog output signals to speaker 30 and
accepts analog audio inputs from microphone 32.
[0020] In some embodiments, the audio processing circuit 34 may
include, or be communicatively connected to, audio processing
circuitry 36 that recognizes and interprets the user's speech.
Instead of manually selecting a business 12 from the list using a
stylus or UI 28, the user may select a particular business 12 by
speaking the text into the microphone 32. The speech processing
circuitry 36 could then provide a signal to controller 40 that
causes a controller 40 to perform functionality associated with the
selected business 12. To facilitate this functionality, the optical
transmitters 14 may transmit information representing the
linguistic content of one or more of the text labels 24, 26 in the
list.
[0021] Memory 38 represents the entire hierarchy of memory in
wireless communication device 20, and may include both random
access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). Computer program
instructions and data required for operation are stored in
non-volatile memory, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and/or flash memory,
and may be implemented as discrete devices, stacked devices, or
integrated with controller 40.
[0022] Memory 38 may store the information and data received from
optical transmitters 14 and one or more user profiles 42 that
contain user preference information. The controller 40, as
discussed in more detail later, may use the user preference
information in the user profiles 42 to filter the received data and
determine which information is important to the user. Based on this
filtering, controller 40 will display selected content on display
22 that matches the user's preferences. Memory 38 may also store
one or more application programs 44 that are executed by controller
40. An example of one such application program 44 is the
application that controls the wireless communication device 20 to
receive the data from optical transmitters 14.
[0023] Controller 40 controls the operation of wireless
communications device 20, and may be implemented in a single
microprocessor, or in multiple microprocessors. Suitable
microprocessors may include both general purpose and special
purpose microprocessors and digital signal processors. As those
skilled in the art will readily appreciate, memory 38 and
controller 40 may be incorporated into a specially designed
application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).
[0024] Transceiver 46 is a fully functional cellular radio
transceiver coupled to an antenna 48 for receiving and transmitting
signals over a wireless communications network (not shown).
Transceiver 46 may operate according to any known standard,
including but not limited to, Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System
(UMTS), TIA/EIA-136, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), cdmaOne,
cdma2000, and Wideband CDMA.
[0025] Optical sensor 50 may be any optical sensor known in the art
able to receive the information and data transmitted by optical
transmitters 14. Optical sensor 50 generally converts optical
information to an electric signal, and passes that converted signal
to controller 40 for further processing. Optical sensor 50 may
detect visible or non-visible light. In one embodiment, for
example, optical sensor 50 comprises a Charge-Coupled Device (CCD)
that converts data carried by visible light to electrical
information usable by controller 40. In other embodiments, the
optical sensor 50 comprises a receiver suitable to detect and
convert data transmitted in the infrared portion of the spectrum by
a Light Emitting Diode (LED).
[0026] Controller 40 receives the data from the optical sensor 50
and filters the data to produce selected content based on the user
preferences in a selected user profile 42. In one embodiment, the
data transmitted by the optical transmitters 14 comprises one or
more alphanumeric codes or indicators that may or may not be
followed by information. Different codes may be used to indicate
different pieces of information, such as the type of business 12
that is transmitting the data, the name of the business, the
contact information, and graphical indicia. Other codes may be used
to indicate other information. Controller 40 may use these codes to
determine the type of information being received and compare them
with the codes stored in the user preference information. If the
received codes are included in the selected user preference
information, controller 40 may generate one or more control signals
to output the content associated with the matching code to the
display 22. The user may view all the received data, or only a
selected subset of the received data based on the received
codes.
[0027] As stated above, the selected content may be displayed to
the user in a list format. However in one embodiment, the
information is overlaid on an image. The wireless communication
device 20 includes a camera 54 to capture an image of the
geographic area 10 in which the optical transmitters 14 are
located. Camera 54 may capture the image responsive to user
commands, or automatically in response to detecting the presence of
an optical transmitter 14. Controller 40 sends the image to the
display 22 so that the user may see the captured image as a
background on the display 22. Controller 36 may then generate
control signals to "overlay" the selected content on the captured
image to visually indicate the location(s) of the businesses 12
corresponding to the selected content.
[0028] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram that illustrates a method 60
according to one embodiment of the present invention, and begins
when the optical sensor 50 receives data emitted by one or more of
the optical transmitters 14 (box 62). Upon receipt, controller 40
determines whether the user has enabled filtering (box 64). If not,
controller 40 simply displays the received data (box 66).
[0029] If the user has enabled filtering, controller 40 determines
whether one or more user profiles 42 exist in memory 38 (box 68).
If not, controller 40 may create a user profile 42 to include
default settings (box 70). The default settings may comprise
information that cause only the names and/or icons of the
businesses 12 to be displayed. Alternatively, the default settings
may be based on historical data collected over time by controller
40 and stored in memory 38. Controller 40 could use this
information to create a user profile. For example, controller 40
could store information reflecting the user's past history of
viewing information relating to specific types of businesses.
Likewise, the controller 40 could also store historical data that
reflects the types of businesses and/or information that the user
has typically excluded from viewing.
[0030] In another embodiment, the controller 40 may create a user
profile 42 based on preference information provided by the user
(box 70). For example, a user who wishes to know if there are any
coffee shops in the area may use the interface 28 to manually input
preference information relating to coffee shops. The information
may include, but is not limited to, the name and/or type of a
specific coffee shop, and the alphanumeric codes or indicators that
correspond to this information. Alternatively, the user may
navigate a menu system and select this preference information from
a drop down list displayed on the display 22.
[0031] If one or more user profiles 42 do exist in memory 38,
controller 40 may prompt the user to select a specific user profile
42 (box 72). As stated above, the user may employ the UI 28 to
select a user profile 42. Controller 40 may then access the
selected user profile 42, and use the preference information stored
therein to filter the received data and display the selected
content (box 74). Controller 40 may also update stored historical
information based on the selected user profile 42 (box 76).
[0032] While the user views the selected content on display 22, the
user may increase and decrease the amount and/or type of data that
gets displayed (boxes 78, 80, 82). For example, a selected user
profile 42 may select a text mode that displays only the names of
businesses 12a-12d in a list format as shown in FIG. 1. If the user
also desires to view the businesses' icons, the user can manipulate
UI 28 to display graphical indicia along with the text. If the user
desires less information, the user might manipulate the UI 28 to
exclude the text from being displayed, and instead, view only the
icons.
[0033] In another example, the user can switch between user
profiles 42 to filter the received data for selected content. As an
example, the user may categorize various preferences into a
plurality of different user profiles 42. A first profile may
indicate that controller 40 should only select and display content
relating to restaurants, while a second user profile 42 indicates
that controller 40 should only select and display content relating
to sports-related businesses. Using the UI 28, the user may
selectively switch between the first and second user profiles 42 to
change the information on which controller 40 filters the received
data. Thereafter, the user may manually manipulate UI 28 to
increase and/or decrease the amount and/or type of selected content
currently being displayed.
[0034] In another embodiment, a single user profile may include a
plurality of different user preferences, each associated with a
different set of preferences that controller 40 uses to filter the
received data. The user may switch between the different sets of
user preferences to change the filter using the UI 28.
[0035] As the user changes the user preferences to effect the
selected content, controller 40 may refresh display 22 to output
the new selected content. Additionally, controller 40 may update
the appropriate user profile 42 to reflect the changes, as well as
update any historical information stored in memory 38 (box 84).
[0036] In the previous embodiments, the user profiles 42 that
contain the user preference information are stored in memory 38 on
the user's device 20. In alternate embodiments, however, the
wireless communication device 20 may access and/or download the
user profiles 42 from a server or other entity in a communication
network. FIG. 4 illustrates one type of communication network 90
suitable for use in the present invention.
[0037] Network 90 comprises a Radio Access Network (RAN) that
communicatively connects the wireless communication device 20 to
the Internet 98 via a Circuit Switched Core Network (CSCN) 94
and/or a Packet Switched Core Network (PSCN) 96. Each of the RAN
92, the CSCN 94, the PSCN 96, and the Internet 98 are well-known in
the art, and thus, not described in detail here. Upon receiving
data from one or more of the optical transmitters 14, the wireless
communication device 20 could initiate messaging using an
appropriate protocol to download a selected user profile 42 from
server 100. Once downloaded, controller 40 could filter the
received data and display the selected content as previously
described.
[0038] The previous embodiments specifically state several types of
information that the controller 40 may display. However, those
skilled in the art will readily appreciate that this information is
illustrative only, and that the present invention is not limited to
the type and/or amount of information that may included with or
excluded from the selected content being displayed.
[0039] Additionally, the specification and figures embody the
present invention in a cellular telephone; however, those skilled
in the art will readily appreciate that this is for illustrative
purposes only. The present invention may be embodied in any
consumer electronics device including, but not limited to, Personal
Digital Assistants (PDA), palm or laptop computers, satellite
phones, and the like.
[0040] The present invention may, of course, be carried out in
other ways than those specifically set forth herein without
departing from essential characteristics of the invention. The
present embodiments are to be considered in all respects as
illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the
meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended
to be embraced therein.
* * * * *